ITaP resources for faculty available to facilitate semester transition

As faculty wrap up the fall semester and prepare course materials for the spring, ITaP resources on grade submission, Blackboard and training opportunities are available to facilitate the transition.

Here’s a quick look at semester-transition resources for instructors as well as planned updates and upgrades to ITaP technology:

Fall semester grade submission: Online grade entry opens 8 a.m. Monday, Dec. 9 and closes at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 17. Final grades may be posted directly to Banner via MyPurdue or by using the Grade Submit Tool in Blackboard Learn. Documentation on grade submission for both methods can be found on ITaP’s grade submission Web page.

Upcoming technology training: Faculty and instructors who are interesting in leveraging instructional technology to increase student engagement in their courses are encouraged to attend ITaP’s finals week training series. Workshop topics include improving the course experience within Blackboard Learn, creating and sharing video content, and providing effective feedback to students. Workshops are also being planned for the start of spring semester on Blackboard Learn, Camtasia, Qualtrics and Course Signals, beginning the week of Jan. 6. Browse to the ITaP Training Calendar to register for one or multiple sessions.

Blackboard building block Web page: To help faculty leverage third-party extensions and add-ons not currently installed in Purdue’s Blackboard environment, ITaP has created a Web page outlining factors to consider before submitting a request for adoption. Faculty members who would like to implement a new building block are asked to submit an online request form a semester in advance of its planned use.

ITaP lab computer changes: At the start of the spring semester, individuals may notice the server guardian no longer serves as the host for file storage. This change is part of a campus-wide, common drive-mapping initiative that will affect how individuals access their career account home directory on ITaP computers. After the spring semester, individuals will find their home directory listed under “W” instead of “H.” Currently, both drives are mapped.

Open-source creative software has been installed in all lab computers and Software Remote as free alternatives to Adobe Creative Suite and Microsoft Office. These applications can be used for image editing (GIMP), vector graphics editing (Inkscape), Web design (KompoZer), PDFs (SumatraPDF) and word processing (OpenOffice).

TIC sites changes: Old technologies are being phased out of Technology in the Classroom (TIC) sites. Gyration wireless mice, which are no longer supported by the vendor, will be removed from classrooms during the 2014 summer sessions. VHS units are also being retired and will be removed from classrooms as the units fail or classrooms are converted to new digital technology. Faculty with VHS instructional content should transfer the material to DVD. For a small fee, non-copyrighted VHS to DVD transfers can be arranged by contacting ITaP’s John Holladay by phone, 765-494-1032, or email, jbholladay@purdue.edu.

BoilerCast content to be archived: In order to increase lecture capture storage space, Boilercast lecture capture content from the fall 2011 and spring 2012 semesters will be archived in early 2014. Archived content will still be available upon request. Please direct all requests or questions to itap@purdue.edu